Miller: Dodgers search for offensive answers

Oct. 12, 2013

Updated 8:16 p.m.

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The Dodgers' Nick Punto throws his bat after striking out in the fifth inning against of Game 2 of the National League Championship Series at Busch Stadium in St. Louis. The Cardinals won, 1-0, to take a 2-0 series lead. ROBERT COHEN, MCT

The Dodgers' Nick Punto throws his bat after striking out in the fifth inning against of Game 2 of the National League Championship Series at Busch Stadium in St. Louis. The Cardinals won, 1-0, to take a 2-0 series lead. ROBERT COHEN, MCT

ST. LOUIS – It was disturbing, excruciating, distressing. It was, frankly, difficult to witness.

But enough about watching Matt Kemp attempt to put on his sports coat Saturday.

Matt Kemp? Sure the Dodgers could use him right now, surgically repaired shoulder be damned.

But they could have used plenty of other guys in NLCS Game 2 – a 1-0 loss to the Cardinals – guys such as Hanley Ramirez, Andre Ethier and, heck, even Manny Ramirez, too.

As it turned out, they didn’t have Hanley at all and Ethier for only one pinch-hit appearance and it’s anyone’s guess where Manny is these days. Is it too late to track him down and sign him?

The Dodgers look like an offense in need of reinforcements after playing 22 innings here and managing just one run-producing hit.

Honest. They’ve had 76 at-bats so far and 75 of those have resulted in zero runs. St. Louis has scored only four times, batted a pathetic .134, slugged at a pace of .194 and still has a dominant-looking edge of two games to none.

Asked if he and his teammates are angry or just frustrated at the moment, Dodgers first baseman Adrian Gonzalez answered, “Both.”

The Cardinals aren’t exactly feeling sorry for their wounded foes, particularly when the Dodgers have spent $234.5 million on their roster. Too bad good health is one of the things money can’t buy.

Here’s how difficult scoring runs is currently for the Dodgers: They were shut out Saturday even though A.J. Ellis hit a ball that cleared the wall in left-center. Of course, it bounced first, but still …

“I think we have to simplify things,” said Ellis, whose fifth-inning ground-rule double put him at second and whose team’s offense left him there. “We’re being aggressive and we all want to be ‘the guy.’ In those situations, that can be a detriment.”

Already down one Ethier, who didn’t start because of lingering ankle issues, having to then fight with one Ramirez tied behind their backs was simply too much for the Dodgers.

It might have said something about their lineup Saturday that St. Louis, with one out in the sixth inning, intentionally walked Gonzalez to load the bases for the Dodgers’ cleanup hitter.

Then again, the decision probably said more about that cleanup hitter, Yasiel Puig, who spent the two games here looking overly eager and completely baffled.

“Obviously, he’s frustrated,” said Manager Don Mattingly, who then praised the Cardinals for keeping Puig “in the rocking chair” with a mix of speed and location. “That’s where I think we see his inexperience kind of come up.”

After the intentional walk to Gonzalez, Puig fell behind 0-2 but suddenly displayed admirable patience in taking three consecutive balls. St. Louis starter Michael Wacha then threw a fourth ball in a row, a 94 mph fastball that was closer to the ground than the strike zone.

Unfortunately for the Dodgers and their chances, Puig waved at the pitch with an awkward, halting swing that was as pretty as Charles Barkley’s average 5-iron. In other words, a nightmare, both aesthetically and athletically.

When Wacha followed by also striking out Juan Uribe, the Cardinals rookie pumped his arms and screamed something that came from very deep inside him.

At his moment of greatest command and control, Wacha suddenly unleashed a wild pitcher.

“He’s swinging at bad pitches, just like the rest of us,” Gonzalez said of Puig, who is 0 for 10 with six strikeouts in the NLCS. “I didn’t come through either, so I can’t say much.”

The Dodgers had never faced Wacha before and, if they had a choice, they’d probably prefer to not face him again. But the only way that happens now is if the Cardinals end this thing before it reaches Game 6. So, no, the Dodgers don’t really have a choice.

That’s almost as bad as not having a hope, and the Dodgers also aren’t knee deep in good possibilities at the moment.

They just lost consecutive games started by their two top pitchers, games they were favored to win and expected to win.

Now, this struggling offense has to face St. Louis ace Adam Wainwright in Game 3, as some folks calculate scenarios involving Clayton Kershaw and Zack Greinke and starting on three days of rest.

Meanwhile, there are others pondering the four months of rest possibly starting sooner than later for all the Dodgers.

“We’ve put ourselves in this position by not hitting,” Gonzalez said. “I had a couple pitches that I could have done a better job with and I didn’t.”

Then asked specifically how many good, hittable pitches he saw Saturday, Gonzalez could recall only two, literally a couple.

The Dodgers could use Kemp, all right, if only to lean on or perhaps cry on. Unfortunately, his shoulder’s even too sore for that.

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